The Drummer Boy of Shinganshina
by Bejerwin
Summary: Jean could care less about the guy behind the beautiful drumming. But he may have to start caring if he wants to hear it ever again.
1. A Friend of a Friend of a Friend

Summary: Jean isn't sure why but he already hates the friend of his friend's friend

Maybe it was the wind that carried the heavy beats of multiple drums across the small town. Maybe it was that Jean was entirely in love with music, especially the rhythmic beating of drums that keep all the other instruments in line that he heard them. Maybe he just really wanted to go somewhere else, away from his friends for a bit.

Maybe he shouldn't have gone looking for the source at all.

Jean Kirschstein, a junior in high school in the town of Trost, a larger, more extravagant version of Shinganshina. Shinganshina had more history though, with people who knew each other better than those of Trost, smaller and had a more warm atmosphere filling the streets. It was just across the cemetery and train tracks both towns shared.

It was a common place for Jean and his friends to go since it meant that no one should know them there, and it had a lot of locales that they deemed worthy for their hangouts.

They had sat outside the lone, brick building that used to be a part of a castle of some sort, they crowded in one of the corners of the open space that many local kids would go to also hang out. But it was about nine at night and there was classes for all the Maria district schools, this included Shinganshina. Rose district schools, including Trost, had a non-student day which they were all glad for.

"Hey Jean," the bald kid named Connie called. He came to Trost to get a better education and quickly befriended Sasha, another student who went to Trost for the same reason. Both could easily relate to the fact they both came from miniscule towns out in the middle of no where.

"What Connie?" Jean inquired, lazily slouching against the building next to his best friend who had thrown himself into the depths of a new book the new blond kid had suggested him.

"Ya look like someone pissed in your haybale, what's wrong?" He snickered and elbowed Sasha for some praise. She elbowed back and giggled behind her thin hand.

"I swear to fuck I will punch your shiny, bald head off your shoulders if you keep making horse jokes."

Marco brought the book away from his face a bit and just said plainly, "Guys, c'mon. Not here." He immediately went back to reading.

Jean sighed and gave a friendly kick of annoyance to Connie's knee while crossing his arms. He shut his eyes just as a group of people passed by with interestingly shaped bags but he dismissed it. He caught himself listening to Sasha and Connie about something or other about Ymir finally getting Historia to date her.

"I just realized, where did that new kid Armin go?" Sasha asked loudly.

Jean reluctantly opened his eyes and noticed there was just four of them, they had all packed into Marco's five seater car with all seats filled. He grunted as he sat up more straight and looked over at Marco. He shrugged and put his bookmark into his book, halfway through it, it seemed, and put it away into a small backpack.

"No one knows where Armin went? He hardly ever goes out, we would look like jerks if we didn't go looking for him. What if he got lost somewhere? Well no, that wouldn't make sense..." Marco murmured, looking around the square.

"He was with us when we got here, where could he have gone?" Sasha asked immediately after.

"This sucks, he seems like the kinda guy who hardly has friends and will feel so alone at a school like ours," Connie chimed in.

"Okay okay, we'll go look for him," Jean grumbled. He hardly knew the guy, not even his friend really, more of Marco's, but he was a nice guy most of the time.

Though, all he wanted to do was sit around outside, away from home. His mom has been in a nagging mood lately as well. He didn't really feel it in him to go boy hunting.

Just as Jean was getting up, he heard the familiar sound of beating drums. Not very clear or clean, seems like whoever was playing was warming up.

"Should we go split up and meet back up here or," Marco started saying before Jean started walking toward the sound. "Jean?"

"You guys go start looking, I'm just going to go check out that sound real quick. I'll be right there."

Jean could hear Marco calling after him but stopped after Jean rounded the corner that lead to the back street and balcony behind the partial castle building. The male han't realized how close the drums actually were. They came from down the stairs, just at the base. He walked over to the railings that edged the balcony that looked down upon the back street. It seemed to be one of the many outer streets that had been abandoned by their owners for better living.

He rested his arms on the cold railing, feeling the full blast of the autumn wind now that there was nothing obstructing the wind's path. His sweater barely forbade the cold air from entering his body through his skin, but he could care less as he watched the group of drummers circling up, quickly shaking out their arms. They seemed to be chatting amongst themselves, mostly laughing, most if not all of them bundled up in some way.

"Practicing this late at night?" he murmured to himself as he was about to walk away without really looking at each person carefully.

"Alright!" someone called below to gather the attention of the massive group. Not much was said and Jean wasn't really listening as he was about to walk back over to his friends who had been waiting for him to hurry up. But he turned back around once he heard the clean, crisp sounds of multiple drums. He could hear the multiple different kinds and sections each played, and though drums obviously have no notes, they had specific sound that really made Jean shiver. Drums were great, Jean loved how they could sound good without any notes to play, just a beat to keep or a rhythm to create with a variation of tapping and pauses.

He repositioned his arms on the railing, watching the circle of humans simultaneously lifting their arms and dropping their hands or swirling a single drumstick around together.

"Hey, isn't that Armin?" Connie shouted above the wind that had picked up while pointing down at the group. _Where did he come from?_

Jean followed the male's extended arm and found that he was right. The blond was standing down there, the only one without a drum or sticks among the group that had gone through their first repetition of their rhythm. But what really caught his attention was the male next to their new friend who wore a tight, thin jacket and an old pair of jeans that huugged his butt but nothing else. He had a dark, possibly maroon colored beanie hugging his scalp. His bangs were flailing wildly off his forehead and every so often Jean would notice his very defined eyebrows that complimented his eye shape.

"Should we go down there?" Sasha pondered aloud, leaning over the railing over the staircase.

Jean licked his lips and shook his head before he responded. "No, let's wait a bit." He continued to eye the drummer friend of Armin's. He looked familiar, sort of.

And so they waited. All four of them listening to the loud, crisp sounds of the drums. It had been thirty minutes, almost time for them to head back into their own town when the group of drummers finally stopped.

"I wonder what their practicing for, maybe for that once festival that they hold during the summer every year?" Marco voiced.

"But that is in the summer, why would they practice now? It's already passed, maybe it is for school." Sasha argued.

"Would the school really let them practice in some deserted back street at nine pm? Really?" Connie countered.

Their short banter was loud enough to catch the attention of multiple drummers who looked up at the group of four. This included Armin who had been so focused on chatting with the male next to him that he hardly noticed how loud he was speaking.

The blond had turned shortly to glance over before he did a full 180. "Oh, hi," he called sheepishly from below. He gave a short wave and mumbled something to the male before heading off, up the stairs and met up with his new friends of a few weeks at the balcony. The wind had died down a bit, making it easier to chat at a normal volume.

Armin was breathing heavy by the time he got to them and had to catch his breath before he could speak clearly. "Sorry, I saw a friend and ran after them without really telling you I had left."

"No, it's alright, we know you used to live here. We were just wondering what happened to you," Marco cheerfully stated.

"Wait you used to live here?" Connie asked confused. Sasha just elbowed him and Armin decided to take it that he didn't have to answer that.

"What were they practicing for?"

Armin smiled wide and started to explain before he was cut off.

"Yo, Arm. Are you coming over tonight? I know how your grandpa's like when you come home late, oh." The male Jean saw next to Armin had walked up behind the blond with a drum shaped bag crossing his body. He had already packed up it seemed that their practice was over for the night.

"Eren, these are my new friend's at Trost High, they come over here a lot to hang out. Jean, Marco, Sasha, Connie, this is Eren, we've been bestfriends since before we even started school," Armin seemed a bit too cheery about introductions. Jean thought it was odd the smart, quiet new kid was bestfriends with this thuggish character. He gave the group a venomous glare, looking them all up and down. He had this atmosphere about him that Jean picked up on, he felt like this guy would beat anyone up if they even brushed shoulders the wrong way.

The Eren guy spent more time looking Jean over than all the others and that really ticked him off.

"Nice to meet you," he finally said through barely parted lips. "So Armin-," he began to say again before being interrupted.

"Hey, do I know you from somewhere?" Connie asked stepping closer to look at Eren better under the yellow light of the street lamps.

"Probably," he replied simply. "I go to Trost too. Well, only for my electives and AP classes. I am homeschooled for everything else."

"Oh! I think I have you in Photoshop."

Marco smiled and also stepped a bit closer. "Don't you sit by the window in AP Bio? I have you in my first period!"

"Oh, I know you. You sit next to Mikasa," Eren raised his eyebrows, giving him a friendlier expression.

Jean grit his teeth and started off down the street. For some reason, hearing him talk about Mikasa and hearing him in general really put Jean on edge. Something about him…

"Jean," he heard his name being called. By which one of them, he didn't know, but it just added to his irritation.

"I'm going to wait in the car," he meant to say it calmly but ended up shouting it over his shoulder. He hadn't continued walking yet before someone said something else.

"Well, we were all planning on heading to Eren's place for a bit. None of us have school tomorrow and Eren has the new seasons of all the summer series that premiered this year on discs."

Jean thought about it, it would look bad to just up and leave. But Jean was torn between his pride and his anger and it was never an easy fight. Why the hell was he mad in the first place? Why the hell did he sound so pissy right then, he was totally calm before. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

He found himself falling behind but following the small group none the less toward Eren's house. The streets were full of the sounds of families quietly speaking along their balconies, cats meowing and their unusually loud footsteps and chatter. Jean had his arms crossed and had a pout similar to a child who had just finished a temper tantrum. Eren was explaining to them why his schooling was weird and stories involving Armin before he moved.

"So why did you move away Armin?" Sasha inquired cheerily.

"Well, my parents went abroad for work and that left my grandpa and I. It just so happened that his home was in Trost and there was better educational opportunities for me there. So I am actually staying with my grandpa until my parents return."

"Ooh."

The chatter had reduced to near silence between all of them. They were walking down a steep hill that had a thin road. They walked far down the street until it ended and broke into a two way intersection. The intersection was also thin, probably more for people rather than any vehicles. Bikes could fit, but it was less likely to be seen on that road it seemed.

Eren stopped at the door to a home that seemed to take up most of the street before the wall broke into a new pattern. Eren's home seemed quite large in comparison to the other buildings. Eren made quick work of opening the door, it was left unlocked apparently, and said, "Here we are. My parents are probably in their room so keep it down, alright?" Eren flipped on a few lights that lit up the short entranceway, the hall and the living room that could be seen through square empty space in the hallway's wall.

There was a grumbling mixed in with the voices that said various things such as 'thank you,' and what not and the grumbling wasn't Jean.

Eren lead the group around the corner into the living room to find a man laying on the couch, sleep grumbling. Jean assumed it was Eren's father, glasses, facial hair, he seemed like the kinda guy who'd drink. But Jean wasn't the kind to judge.

The brunet left the group to wake his sleeping father by lightly nudging his knee and quietly coaxing him to get off the couch. He grumbled a few things before he rolled off the couch and pat his son on the shoulder, making his way to the stairs, saying his greetings, especially noting Armin, and disappearing all together.

"So that was my dad. And yeah, he's usually a heavy sleeper but mom's sick so still keep it quiet."

"You told us that already," Jean said annoyed.

Eren flashed an equally annoyed glance at Jean, which gave Jean the opportunity to finally notice how bright his eyes were now that they were in a well lit area. Jean wasn't even sure what color his eyes were.

"Okay," Marco said breaking the tense atmosphere the two had created. "So what are we watching then?"

From what Jean had soaked in, Eren's house was a lot larger than the layout let on. The kitchen was enormous and full of food (to Sasha's delight), the living room was larger than kitchen, and there was even more upstairs from what Eren let on when they asked about it.

There was a wall-wrap-around couch, soft and complete with cup holders, leg rests for those without recliners. The TV was a great size for watching with groups or even alone. It was nice and clean inside, and it made Jean even more irritated.

He sat himself on the edge by the right armrest, the one closest to the exit, Marco sitting next to him. Sasha and Connie made themselves feel right at home by taking the whole other half of the couch that turned because of the wall. Eren had set up the TV, found some snacks and sat himself in between Marco and Armin.

It was mostly silent on their side of the couch as they watched the blood splatter on screen. Sasha and Connie were set on continuous whisper mode, they were not allowed to talk any louder than that.

Jean found it hard to really focus as he noticed Eren was falling asleep, tilting Marco's way, Armin had already fallen asleep on top of the brunet. Soon the guy that gave Jean unreasonable irritation was about to fall asleep on his best friend with his best friend on him and there would be a pile of people on Jean because he was sure Marco was already asleep.

The male eyed the digital clock on one of the boxes, it read 10:34 and Jean began to wonder if they were leaving at all before the clock struck eleven. He could care less about getting home before midnight, he just didn't want to spend the night in his casual, outdoor clothes in some, basically a stranger's house. Sasha and Connie were probably going to have to sleep over somewhere anyway, it was too late to head all the way out of town to bring them home. Armin could get away with sleeping here he assumed, but Marco probably was labeled with some strict curfew this time since he got less than an A on his last Lit test.

Jean felt himself get a headache. He shut his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose and let himself get sucked into the couch. He crossed his arms over his stomach and spread out his legs more on the rests, almost waking Marco up as he did so.

When he opened his eyes finally he had found a maroon blanket, similar to Eren's beanie, had been carefully placed on him. Marco had curled with another blanket, sort of navy colored, nearby, in the same place Eren and Armin had been what he thought was only moments before. Sasha was at the other side of the couch, somewhat sprawled out with the puke green fleece blanket haphazardly laying on her legs. He had to blink to really focus on the room, the lights were off when he closed his eyes, but now so was the TV. He realized Connie had found a way to make sleeping on the floor look comfortable with his sleeping position. He was given a deer colored blanket that would have covered three of him.

The teen rubbed his eyes and began to wonder how he had fallen asleep so easily. He was wide awake when they were watching whatever that dick Eren put in the DVD player. He looked over at the freckled boy and weighed his options. Jean decided to not wake up their driver and just get up to get a glass of water. He could get water right? He was a guest and he thought he remembered the guy say they could get what they wanted from the kitchen when they were settling in.

Jean cursed at himself, it was halfway to four am and he knew he was stuck there until everyone woke up. At least until Marco woke up. The other three could find a way home, Jean was not going to walk all the way from Eren's to his house. Trost was just across the train tracks and the cemetery, but that shit was spooky at night he'll admit, to himself at least. And even if he overcame that, he lived on the other side of Trost, he would be poop tired by the time he got there and his mom would probably be awake and still at home before leaving for whatever plans she made for herself and her girlfriends.

He shuffled through the house slowly, making his way into the dark kitchen. He flipped the light switch on and started rummaging through the cupboards for a glass of some sort.

"You looking for something?"

Jean immediately felt his hairs rise on his neck and he used the fact that he had just woken up as an excuse to glare at the owner of the voice.

"Water," he replied coldly.

Eren was sitting on the counter opposite Jean who had been looking through the cupboards on the other side of the fridge.

"Water's in the fridge," Eren said smuggly.

"And a glass to drink it in dumbass."

The other male dropped his smug grin and just returned Jean's sleepy glare. He twisted his torso around to pull open one of the doors to procure a small glass, one for Jean, and another for himself. He hopped off the granite counter shortly after and handed one glass to Jean as he opened the fridge door. Eren pulled out a pitcher of water and poured himself some water and then for his guest.

He did everything silently, drank his water, put away the pitcher, closed the fridge door, put his cup in the sink, everything. He hardly even looked at Jean as he did such things, just let Jean do his own thing and minded his own business.

The fact the guy did all that made Jean taste bile.

Eren took notice as he was leaving the kitchen and turned on his heel, leaning back quite smoothly onto the wall. "What's up?" He asked with the underlying tone of more, 'you got the piss cup or you just like that?' rather than actually asking how he was doing.

"Nothing," Jean lied.

"Sure." Eren didn't believe him. But he left it at that. "Since you woke up, you can take one of the other guest rooms if you want. I don't know how you feel about sleeping on a stranger's couch so…"

"Then I bet you know less about how I feel about sleeping in a stranger's guest room."

"Hey, I'm just offering like the good host I am supposed to be."

They stood there quietly for a few long minutes. Both with crossed arms and backs against something.

"Well where is it?"

Eren twisted his expression into the exact emotion Jean was feeling and Jean hated that he could express exactly what Jean was feeling without even knowing how he was feeling. "Well you didn't tell me you wanted it or not." He paused and sighed then pushed off the wall. "This way."

The hall that they originally entered through lead to even more rooms the further past the staircase they went. Eren opened the door to one of the doors, it was by the restroom, but quickly closed it.

"Sorry, not this one."

Jean raised one eyebrow and just gave Eren a look of disgust. Eren seemingly ignored it and rounded back to the staircase and took the steps by two. He rounded around the railing and ignored the next flight of stairs and stopped down the hallway at the second to last door.

"Restroom is next door," Eren pointed at the door next to Jean's. "I'm across the hall tonight, knock first." He was about to leave Jean before Jean spoke up.

"I know my manners," he paused. "Why'd you bring me to this one instead of the one downstairs?"

The question seemed to put Eren in a tight spot. He shifted the weight of his feet and opened and closed his mouth. He seemed to debate whether or not to tell him and what he would say if he did tell him.

"Surprise guest."


	2. What Friends?

Chapter Summary: Jean is pretty sure all of his friends betrayed him and befriended his unofficial, unreasonable, new enemy.

(Prechapter-notes from when I posted this on AO3, I actually had this completed awhile ago I just didn't have time to post it anywhere else except AO3) I hope you enjoy this... Trying to update at least once a month. Doing well so far... But trying to actually plan the chapters and have a decent length is hard...

Some worried Marco in this chapter.

* * *

><p>Eren didn't stay long in the dim hallway to amuse Jean with answers to his questions. It only left a sour taste in his mouth knowing that Eren was hiding something. <em>Why do I care?<em>

Jean had watched Eren ignore any advancement of the conversation and disappear into his own room. He hadn't even turned on the light upon entering and Jean thought it was odd. He did snicker a bit when he heard the heavy thump and felt the vibration of the brunet probably tripping and slamming into the floor.

The teen was left to his own devices and entered the bedroom. He flipped the light on and examined the room. The bed was pushed against the far corner with a dresser and TV opposite. The window was covered by the first thin, beige layer of curtains with the patterned drapes tied off to the sides. The bed looked thick with sheets and looked so comfortable. Jean wondered though if going back to sleep was worth it. He didn't want to have to stay longer than he needed.

Jean halted thoughts about the bed for a moment to really think about the guy Eren. Jean wondered how anyone could be best friends with that guy.

_Marco is bestfriend material, Armin sure, but a guy like Eren is just...What the fuck was that all about? And what does he mean 'I'm across the hall tonight,' dick…_ Jean thought to himself as he pulled the quilt over him.

He had just shut his eyes when there was a light knock on the door. Jean was tempted to curse at the person on the other side of the door, but he was in someone else's home, it was early morning, or late at night? Whatever, he wanted to but he was not going to shout at the door. He let a long exhale escape his lips.

Jean flipped the quilt off of himself and swung his legs off the bed, making it quickly to the door and nearly whacking himself with it upon opening it just as fast.

He was met with bright, unusually colored eyes again and he knew it was Eren. He was just a tad shorter than Jean, he noticed. His hair was a mess and he was missing his beanie from a couple of hours ago.

_Why was Jean choosing __**now**__ to notice all of these features about the Eren guy? Now, when he was trying to hurry things along and attempt at a few hours of sleep._

Eren was surprised by how quickly the door was answered and he gawked at Jean for a brief moment. He recomposed himself quickly and held up a stack of clothes.

"What?" was all Jean said, giving the stack a quizzical look.

"What do you mean what. I thought that maybe you might want to borrow some pajamas, you gonna sleep the rest of the night in outside clothes?"

The taller of the two just squinted at the other as if he was trying to move him with his brain. "You think those'll fit?"

"You're hardly two inches taller than me, I'm pretty sure they'll fit. And if you are so worried, I can get my dad's clothes." He continued to eye the clothes and it only made Eren scoff. "It's not like back in the old days where they would poison clothes, why the heck would I ruin a good pair of pajamas with poison?"

Jean still wasn't sold and asked, "Why am I the only one offered clothes?"

"You expect me to wake people up to have them change clothes? Why do you think they're still on the couches? Is this fucking twenty questions?" Eren's voice rose in volume.

Jean only matched the other and raised his as well. "You tell me, you're asking as many questions as I am."

"So you're keeping count? Wha-," Eren stopped himself and sighed. He shut his eyes and counted to ten. "Look, are you taking the damn pajamas or not?"

There was silence between them once again. Not as long as it was back down in the kitchen, but fairly long for just a yes or no answer. Eren was beginning to become even more irritated and just leave all together with the clothes when Jean extended his arm a bit.

Eren looked at the hand and at Jean. "Yes, I'll take 'the damn pajamas,'"

The brunet placed the neatly folded clothes on Jean's pale hand, unintentionally brushing each other during the exchange.

_I swear to fuck this guy is gay,_ Jean quickly thought.

"G'night," Eren said as he disappeared once again behind his door. The sound of falling onto the floor lacking this time.

"Fuck you," he muttered once he was sure he heard the door shut. He shut his door as well and quickly undid his belt and stripped to his underwear. The pajamas were soft, good for the in between weather of transitioning from warm to cold and vice versa. He was given a yellow, brown, black and grey plaid pajama bottoms that were probably made of the softest cotton ever. The top was a simple grey long sleeved shirt. It was thinner than he expected but he didn't care, it was fucking soft.

The teen balled up his clothes and placed them on the dresser and went back to laying on the bed under the quilt. He didn't want to make too much of a mess of the room so he tried to sleep on one side of the bed.

* * *

><p>It was uncomfortable sleeping on just one side of the bed. Jean wondered how he was able to not shift in his sleep. Then again he was mostly half-awake for the remainder of the night, morning?, and by the time he heard birds wake him from his light slumber, he had just gotten used to the position.<p>

It was evident in Jean's groaning that he was reluctant to leave the bed just yet and thought about sleeping in. School was really hurting his sleep lately. The window let in quite a bit of morning light and though pleasing in movies, it was just an eyesore, quite literally, for Jean. He saw the digital clock in the dresser, reading nine am give or take. He had slept maybe five hours since he last woke up and it made him groan even louder.

Jean pulled himself upright and sat on the edge of the bed. He rubbed the sleep away from his eyes and took a better look outside the window. The sky was still tinted with orange rays that broke through the thin early clouds.

He didn't think sitting on the guest bed was going to get him anywhere near home, so he slid off the bed until his feet planted themselves firmly on the floor. He walked over to the door and went out into the hall and gave a onceover the area. He turned to his left and found himself in the bathroom the guy had pointed out earlier.

The male immediately went for the sink and splashed water on his face. He grabbed for the towel and wiped the cold droplets off.

"Oh," he said realizing he was wearing that guy's, Eren's, pajamas. "Why the fuck was he awake last night? Where the fuck did Armin go? Why the fuck am I still here?" He pondered aloud.

Jean didn't want to waste anymore time hanging out in Shinganshina and was struggling to pull the shirt over his head as he exited the bathroom and tried to feel around for the guest room door. He had one arm still in the sleeve as he started pulling the plaid waistband over his hips and grunted as he shook off the pajamas. He nearly face planted onto the rug as he entered the room and feeling for his own clothes.

"Hey, uh, breakfast is ready."

Jean just about launched himself at the window when he heard the familiar voice he'd been hearing all night. He was hardly decent as he faced the figure in the doorway.

He glared at Eren, who was still in his pajamas, and shouted, "What the fuck!?"

"You left the door open," he said instantly irritated. "Everyone's downstairs already eating and if you want to have breakfast you might want to hurry up." He left, giving no time for Jean to reply with a snarky comeback.

It was six minutes after the morning meeting with Eren that he was entering the dining room that was adjacent to the kitchen. He had ignored everyone on the way in, his mind elsewhere.

Connie could be heard telling jokes with Sasha, or to Sasha, as she was busily eating some scrambled eggs. Her only reactions were muffled laughs. Marco seemed to be laughing while he was eating something as well. Armin was too, though between words. Eren just looked the same, irritated but blushing in embarrassment at something.

"Hey hey!" Connie called over. "You missed some great stories about Eren, Jean! Tell it again Armin, c'mon!"

"It's not even funny!" Eren cried before chugging down a glass of orange juice.

"Eren," Armin started before he let out a breathy laugh. "It really is."

"What's the fucking story then?" Jean inquired as he took the only seat not occupied, which was unfortunately on the other side of Eren. He didn't make a move to grab a plate or any food.

Armin calmed down and put down his fork. "Well it goes like this, back in the eighth grade, we were at some old, one of a kind half fast food, half restaurant and bar joint downtown. And there was this one, and I quote, 'smoking hot guy' working the register that day. Well most of the staff was good looking but Eren specifically called this guy out." At this point Eren made an effort to make it look like he was unaffected by the tale anymore and busied himself with finishing all the cereal in his bowl with aggressive motions. "So we were hanging out there, just us three and Eren had gotten his usual extremely spicy pasta, why, we don't know but it is actually really good, and he always needs a lot of Mountain Dew or other soda brand for added effect."Connie was giggling in his seat and so was Sasha, this was probably where the story is supposed to get funny, Jean thought. "He went up to the counter for a refill and the guy asked for Eren to take his top off."

"And Eren shouted, 'whoa, why do I have to take off my shirt for a refill?! I'm not a hooker!'" A somewhat monotone voice said from the kitchen entrance.

"Shut up Mikasa!" Eren shouted as he nearly choked on his cereal. Mikasa walked around the table and stood next to Eren, who happened to be at the head of the table, and smiled at him teasingly.

Jean looked up at the mention of her name and his eyes went wide. _Holy shit_. What was the Asian beauty of Trost High doing here? Extremely smart and fighting for the title of most athletic female of the junior class for 2014, she was all around perfect. When did she get back from her student trip to the private school up in Stohess? Wasn't she supposed to be gone a week?

"Gah haha! It's funnier when Mikasa tells it!" Connie blurted, spitting everywhere.

"My god Connie, cover your mouth," Eren threatened.

Jean had raised his head and continued to examine her form. Her walk was model worthy but her posture while standing had an angelic elegance to it. In his opinion it graced the very room and made staying overnight at that guy's house ten times more worth it. _And she's in athletic clothes, does she run in the morning?_ Jean thought to himself, noting the bright running shorts that were high on her pale thighs. Taking in the fact that her shirt was still sort of sticking to her from breaking a sweat during her exercise. Her hair was pulled back in a messily tied ponytail, and Jean just about lost it when he noticed up close the few strands of hair that clung to her forehead. For once he was able to see her slim neck that was usually covered by a scarf or jacket. He took in the sights and burned it into his memory.

_Damn. I have it bad._

Jean was brought back to reality for a split second as his major crush for about all of junior high and high school spoke. "It's okay Eren, the guy thought you were 'smoking hot' too, so he secretly enjoyed the misunderstanding," she teased.

Jean, still not quite there because of the sudden entry of Mikasa, suddenly blurt out the question from the back of his brain that had come up during the telling of Eren's embarrassing story. "Eren's gay?"

It wasn't exactly a morning topic. And coming from the guy who hates his guts it was probably not the best thing to ask so bluntly in his own home.

Armin looked at Eren, probably making sure he doesn't do anything rash. Mikasa looked at Jean, not giving anything away about what she was thinking, but Jean gulped involuntarily once he realized she was looking at him.

Connie and Sasha stayed quiet too while Eren just turned in his seat and looked at Jean. He didn't make any expressions either, or voiced anything, he just stared and it ticked off Jean.

Jean hated that Eren narrowed his eyes at him with an underlying tone of enmity. Jean hated that he was taking the time to notice all of Eren's feature once again, his eyes especially. They were brighter than normal and the light that reflected through the window hit his eyes at such an angle it made it glow almost. It gave an over laying effect over the whites of his eyes and it made him freeze. He pulled his eyes away to look at anything else. Jean hated that he could make his disheveled hair look like a fashion trend from any woman's hair salon magazine and that he had the face shape for some of the Korean pop stars he saw some girls fangirl over during lunch._ Don't go fucking celebrity bitch face on me!_ Jean wanted to pick a fight with the reaction Eren gave him, purposefully denying that he was in the wrong by asking a very personal question.

Before Jean could add anything else and actually pick a fight Eren answered.

"No, I don't identify with anything." Jean probably made a face without realizing it because he could hear him sigh before he saw him actually react. "Technically if I had to tell you, people would say I'm pan but I honestly don't care to use terms with sexuality and gender. And in case you were wondering, yes I'm fucking male."

It was silent for a minute. Eren went back to eating just as Sasha and Connie did. Armin began to eat warily and Miksa just stared at the two-toned haired male. Jean didn't look at her for a moment, but finding that she was not going to move he glanced up at her.

She was silent and still. Still standing in a somewhat refined manner.

"You're in my seat," she finally stated calmly.

Jean opened his mouth and without questioning or making any fuss, got up and looked around the table as Mikasa slid into the seat. The seat next to Eren. Eren stopped spooning food into his mouth to reach over to grab one of the plates left in the stack of porcelain colored plates and placed it in front of Mikasa. She murmured a 'thank you' and started putting food on her plate. _Oh. Fuck you Eren, gotta be the nice guy here-_ Jean shut down his internal cursing and scanned the dining room where he found that there was no where else to sit. He didn't want to attract attention to himself by standing so he went into the kitchen where Marco followed shortly behind, being the only one who seemed to care that he was left seatless.

There was a half-door curtain that separated the dining from the kitchen and Jean had nearly knocked the curtains off as he stormed into the kitchen. Marco didn't barge in as harshly.

Jean seemed to be seething and paced around the kitchen that was still heavy with the scent of breakfast. The area was spotless though and the fact that he could smell the food but not taste it or see the mess that should come of it made Jean even more irritated in some other worldly manner.

"Jean, calm down," Marco had whispered.

"I am perfectly calm!" Though Marco knew the truth having been able to read Jean quite well for some time.

"Now you're yelling, inside voices." Marco reprimanded as if speaking to a toddler. He jerked his chin to the open doorway that was only covered by a few feet in length of thin fabric. Jean stopped pacing and rested his butt on one of the many granite counters lining the walls while Marco stayed near the kitchen island, resting an arm on it.

Marco stayed silent as he watched his friend tap his toe and cross his arms tighter over his chest.

"Why is the one and only Mikasa Ackerman doing in fucking Eren what's-his-face's house?!" Jean whisper-shouted.

"It's Jaeger,"Marco corrected.

"Do I look like I fucking care?!"

"You're shouting again," the freckled boy noted worriedly. "Let's go into the other room, I don't want to disturb them."

"Why? So that he doesn't realize your best friend's a-,"

Marco cut off Jean and put up a waving hand to stop him altogether. He made a face that was sort of worried yet irritated at the same time. He looked his friend in the eyes meaningfully and asked, "Jean why are you so pissed?"

The male straightened up and looked at Marco like he had just insulted him. _Why was he angry? Why wasn't he?!_ Jean just clicked his tongue and looked away to the sink that had drying kitchenware laying in the sink. Jean didn't know, but he felt like he could make up some bullshit answer just to satisfy the other until he came to some realization why he was being such a jerk-face.

Jean just hissed through his teeth and glared at the innocent cooking pan before he looked back at Marco whose personal bubble was being invaded by the close proximity of the fucker walking by.

He almost tripped him. He really almost did.

But Eren strolled along, stacks of plates in hands and began to slowly descend to place them into the lower rack of the washing machine that hardly looked used. _Why wash it manually when you have a fucking dishwasher?_ Jean just couldn't seem to stop questioning everything about Eren.

"Hey," a pleasant voice called. Jean looked up and his initial irritation from earlier had subsided when he saw that it was Mikasa who was talking to him.

"Hey," he responded stiffly.

"I didn't know you didn't eat yet, I thought you had finished earlier than the others. There is still food at the table and I already set a place for you to eat." Jean internally cried, she didn't have to do that for him. It was that guy's job to be the good host and set it up for him!

Marco watched from behind Mikasa, his expression also becoming more positive and sort of giddy. He knew how much Jean was head over heels crushing on Mikasa and he was just playing his part of the good best friend who cheers on from the sidelines at every interaction they have.

Eren had finished putting the plates away and seemingly went back for more dishes, but that was a back of the brain thing for Jean. He was more focused on how sweaty his palms were.

"I-It's alright, thanks," he managed to say through barely moving lips. He could feel his mouth dry up and his neck get hot. This was the closest he's ever been to her with her actually initiating some sort of conversation outside of class and not just to make him get out of a seat like earlier.

She nodded and walked out of the kitchen and Jean just watched. Watched her turn the corner with such a refined walk as he stiffly high fived Marco as he mentioned something about going to join the others in the entertainment area.

All the negative thoughts had floated away and he felt quite content with the kindness that his darling crush had shown.

"So that's the _surprise guest_," Eren had said as soon as Jean passed through the curtains. His back was facing the far wall and he was busy with cleaning up the table, picking up the placemats left behind but the food still sat there.

Jean had made a face and said nothing.

He found himself sitting at the table once again, same place he had previously occupied and helped himself to some eggs and one of the two pancakes left. But the comment Eren had made bothered him and he had opened his mouth to speak as soon as he swallowed a bite of scrambled eggs.

"What d'ya mean by that?"

"Well she was on that trip for Stohess and got back earlier than planned and since her parents were still out of town as well, my dad had picked her up so that she didn't have to get a taxi or bother a friend to drive her so out of the way."

Eren had cleaned off the mats and rolled each one up separately and stacked them on the side into a pyramid. He had moved on to straightening up the food that had fallen on the table, picking up each piece carefully and precisely.

"Why you?"

"Family friends," Eren hadn't seemed so pissed Jean saw. Answering his questions without much pause to think or to retort. He had spoken fluidly as if he had rehearsed the answers. "She stays the night randomly sometimes, likes visiting us because she misses my parents and I. Hardly see her at school and she gets worried that I still get into fights. She was always worried about me even before. We practically lived together and we even were raised in the same house from eight to fifteen years old. Parents went off for some important family things, I don't even remember."

Jean had taken three more bites by the time Eren had finished his second explanation, finishing his room temperature eggs. He felt the twitch of his mouth but he wasn't about to go getting angry… just yet.

He leaned over the table, resting his head on his hand, fork suspended in the air with the other hand with just a thumb and index finger, playing with it. He watched Eren collect the food in one cupped hand and continue to the other side of the table.

"Fights? Well I guess you look like the rebellious type," Jean said plainly. Eren looked up long enough to give Jean a look that was somewhat threatening but he quickly went back to cleaning up.

"Yeah, fights. Have a record for dealing broken noses, nails, arms, legs, and a few concussions and... one cracked skull." It sounded as if Eren was bitter about talking about it and it only made Jean pursue the topic over learning about his past with Mikasa. Asking about it may make him just punch the guy.

"I think I heard that 'bout you somewhere," Jean hummed contemplatively. "What made you stop?"

Eren had glanced up again and this time the brightness of his eyes was apparent to Jean even though there was a shadow cast on his face. Jean swallowed and sat up. He pouted and changed his grip to a firm one on his fork. He finished up his food before getting up to leave.

"Do you mind taking your plate to the dishwasher?" Eren asked, the hint of bitterness gone from his voice.

Jean didn't respond with words but with a simple, che, and did what he was asked of anyway. Eren was soon behind him, placing the rest of the empty plates and utensils into the washer while Jean was getting up.

"You play any instruments, Jean?" Eren had suddenly asked while closing the door to the dishwasher.

"What's that all of a sudden?"

"I saw you eyeing my drums yesterday, I also know the difference between musicians and nonmusicians. Look at their hands and how they hold things."

Jean looked at Eren with the same face he had been giving him basically all night, minus when he was admiring the drumming. He didn't like his tone and felt like he was talking down to him.

"I can play guitar, I sing, I know how to drum but it's not my forte. I took some piano lessons when I was younger but dropped that for guitar and singing."

Eren had simply nodded and wiped his hands on a dish towel while looking up at the pendulum clock.

"Cool," he said before walking out without another word, seemingly preoccupied with another thought on his mind.

_What the fuck._

* * *

><p>Sorry for errors, you can help by pointing them out as well. (finished at like 2 am almost)<p>

Tell me what you think will happen next? I just really want to get some sort of feedback, it would be great!


	3. E-R-E-N J-special A thing-G-E-R

**Chapter 3: E-R-E-N J-special A thing-G-E-R**

_Summary: Jean finally gets to leave his personal hell hole. But leaving that guy's home doesn't mean that is the last he will see or hear about him. _

_(Again trying to keep this one as clean as I can, for notes look at the AO3 one, just search up the same title of this fic there.)_

* * *

><p>When he reunited with his <em>actual<em> friends he could see the relief in Marco's eyes when he saw Jean join them. Marco wouldn't admit it but he was worried Jean would pick a fight with Eren, which they verbally have done already, then sighed, content. Jean had squeezed in between Marco and Armin, making use of the foot rest as well.

Mikasa had already reappeared dressed much more casually for comfort with her hair dripping wet. Jean had ignored once again the conversation going on to his side while the movie scene selection screen was up. He had leaned back and got comfortable while keeping his eyes in the direction of Mikasa, but made sure to not actually look at her. His hands were brought up to his face and covered his mouth thoughtfully.

The two-toned-haired-teen was thoroughly examining the features of Mikasa's wet hair, fresh out of the shower which she quickly took not too long ago.

Marco had joined the conversation with Armin about the actors in the movie (he wasn't sure when they had started watching movies, he thought they were still watching… He didn't even remember anymore), and Sasha was just adding in her two cents every so often with Connie. It seemed that they decided to finish their last movie before they head home and by the way they were sitting, they had all gotten extremely _close_ over one night. Sasha was practically sitting in Connie's and Marco's laps and Armin had turned his body so he was partially laying on Mikasa and had somehow made his way to using a portion of Jean's leg as a foot rest. Jean didn't really care though.

The movie began repeating a portion of a scene they had already seen apparently. Jean had torn his eyes away from Mikasa and tried to watch the movie. Jean had limited himself to only cursory glances at Mikasa every time a specific character talked.

His mind wandered as the movie went on. He was only pulled out of his reverie and immediately disgusted by the presence of Eren taking the last bit of space next to Mikasa. He quickly mumbled something to her and she mumbled something back. He raised an arm and put it on the back of the couch behind Mikasa's head, getting comfortable. It took everything in Jean's will capacity to not react to such as simple action.

The movie went on for forty minutes and forty minutes was just too long for Jean. The image of Eren sitting so closely to Mikasa was stuck in his brain, burnt at the back of his eyelids when he blinked. He could pick out the voice and breathing of Eren and it was throwing him into an eternal pit of annoyance.

He could feel someone squeeze his thigh gently and he looked up to glare at them initially but lost the motive when he saw Marco's kind, umber, eyes. He sighed because he knew what Marco was going to ask but kept it circulating in his thoughts until Jean had replied in some way.

"You worry too much," he had whispered in his ear before pulling back to try and focus on the movie. Marco was unmoved and squeezed his thigh again and Jean just slapped his hand away.

* * *

><p>"See ya, Jaeger!" Connie called from the doorway all smiles.<p>

"Shut up, you'll wake my mom," Eren said lightheartedly. He walked over to the front door and leaned against the doorframe, standing quite casually and friendly compared to how the air about him usually was like.

"Thanks for letting us stay the night," Marco added as he finished lacing his shoes and walking out the door. Jean had followed behind with a pissed expression, though he felt relieved to finally be leaving.

Armin followed behind after declining Eren's offer to take him home himself so he could also visit his grandpa and apologize for keeping him out so late. Everyone had filed out into the street and waved farewell as they trekked back to Marco's car. The only one who hadn't left was Mikasa.

Jean of course noticed this but tried to act indifferent about it and picked up his pace. It would take seven more minutes to reach the car on foot.

"Well that was fun," Sasha had said breaking the group's traveling silence once they all packed themselves into the car. Marco drove, Jean, who grumbled at her comment, took shotgun; Armin took the left door while Sasha took the middle, leaving the right door to Connie. Honestly it would have made more sense for Armin or Connie to sit in the middle but they had won a bet against her so she would have to suffer in the small midsection of the car.

They pulled out of the parking space and carefully drove onto the street, pinpointing each street name on which they would then turn onto. It was probably almost noon by the time they had reached the town's limits before crossing over into Trost. It wasn't that far away, but far enough that walking would be a hassle to any lazy teen on weekends.

The cemetery was about half the distance of the entire stretch from Shinganshina to Trost but the rest of the distance was the train tracks and a park just outside which was an unusual placement but the area was old and they worked with what they had. There was even a few shops and restaurants on the other side of the road that connected the two towns but not a lot. The road was ten minutes drive because of the speed limit but to actually get anywhere recognizable in either towns they'd have to drive another 5 or so minutes since the outskirts of both towns were just neighborhoods.

Marco flicked his eyes into the rearview mirror to look at Armin as he continued to watch the scenery out the window. He had yawned before he realized he was being watched. The blond boy smiled gently back into the mirror and Marco finally looked back at the sparsely populated road.

"Are you close to Mikasa as well?" Marco finally asked, changing gears as they passed the Wendy's. Jean shifted his eyes onto Marco but kept his head forward.

"Well, yeah, she was the Hermione to our Harry and Ron I guess you could say. She's the daughter of 0ne of Mr. Jaeger's, Eren's dad, patients for their special condition that run's in her family. They became close friends and that's how the two met and Eren soon introduced us to each other. She was always the listener of our group and followed the flow of things until Eren got us into trouble. Then she would take charge," Armin paused and looked back at the horizon, filled with far off buildings from the base of Trost soon coming into view. He was smiling as he did this and Marco noticed that. Sasha and Connie stayed quiet as everyone else did, assuming he would continue.

"I was the kid who would get picked on because my parents were avid travelers for work so I would have been almost always alone; I was too young and my grandpa was too old to continuously follow after. Though he lives in Trost, better for his health anyway, he would always pack up enough things to stay in Shinganshina with me so I wouldn't have to leave Eren," the smile faded from his features and it was just a blank slate as he spoke about himself. "They always said their home was Shinganshina so there wasn't a reason to move anyway. I only moved to Trost to stay with my grandpa as of late because the education is better, he hasn't been the healthiest lately, and my parents won't be back for at least a year as of August. I thought that I should learn to not rely on Eren so much anymore and do something for myself."

There was another long pause and Sasha shifted in her seat. "Eren kept me company and beat up my bullies who made fun of me for wanting to leave. Of course Eren shared my dreams of wanting to see more than the old brick buildings Shinganshina inherited from it's history. But it seems that it will take a bit longer for us to really accomplish it."

The air in the car was a bit stuffy to Jean's disliking and cracked open his window to let some air flow in. "You make him sound so great," he muttered behind a fisted hand.

"He is," Armin quickly replied. "To me and Mikasa at least," he added distastefully and he furrowed his eyebrows.

Marco flashed his eyes again into the rearview mirror with worried eyes. He had been technically friends with Armin a couple of weeks, and Armin had been attending school since the start of that school year. He could feel himself ache with emotions that would only spawn from watching a friend who was in some sort of internal storm.

"Eren isn't the best at befriending others, he can be too hardheaded and takes offense quite easily and is prone to pick fights, but he is great to me. I don't think Mikasa and I could ever be who we are now without him."

"It depends on where you stand in his eyes I guess. I was a kid who needed help and was weak, so the hero-mind-set in him kicked in and he became the kid who beat up my bullies without realizing how much injuries he had been inflicted in the process. He's gotten better, he hasn't gotten into any fights lately and… I'm sorry what am I saying, you guys don't want to hear this."

Jean had turned around to quickly get a glimpse of the boy and clicked his tongue involuntarily. Armin had clenched his teeth and his eyes seemed darker than Jean remembered. He hadn't noticed that he had dark circles similar to that of a sleep deprived person. _Was he up all night? Now that I think about it, Eren was up when I woke up the first time. Where was Armin then?_

Armin didn't finish his sentence and he had brought his arm up so that his left elbow could rest on the door. He bent his arm to bring his fingers to pinch the bridge of his nose and he shut his eyes. Jean could feel the regret coming off in waves from the backseat.

Connie tried to comfort him and said that it wasn't something to worry about and that he was actually interested but Armin didn't open up again. It wasn't hard to tell that Armin was beating himself up for sharing so much personal information that wasn't even his to share. He wasn't a bad guy but no one knew what to say to him and now they knew more about the green-eyed boy from the Shinganshina Festival Band.

No one was going to say though that they had wanted to know more. This was the same guy they saw but never talked to before. He was friends with the popular, athletic-beauty Mikasa Ackerman who happened to be at his house the night they officially met him and is best friends with Armin who was number one in the knowledge department. Normally a guy with a record of picking fights and breaking faces would stereotypically be stupid and need summer school to keep up but this guy was in AP classes like no one's business. He already had a name for himself, even if he kept quiet and hardly ever showed up around school anyway. His personality irritated some, Jean specifically, but turned on others. _Just who the fuck is this guy?!_

They had finally pushed past the first set of houses in Trost and the streets were familiar once again,

"Ah!" Marco exclaims as he looks at the dashboards digital clock. Everyone gives him a concerned look and his voice rises to match that of a joking tone. "My curfew was 12 hours ago!"

Armin's lips curved slightly behind his hand at that sudden realization as Connie cackles at his freckled friend.

"Wonder what Mama-Bodt's gonna do to you when you get home, I hope you don't get your chemistry set taken away!" Connie cheerfully said.

"No way..." Marco muttered sarcastically.

"She might just take away your special edition Pokemon 3DS as well," Armin added quietly. Sasha belted out a string of laughs and snorts at that comment and started bouncing back and forth in her seat.

"What a nerd," Jean finally said with a smile crossing his face.

"Says the guy with Pokemon bedsheets and slippers," Marco accused and Jean turned his smile into a playful, yet embarrassed pout and looked back out the window.

Sasha was smacking her hand on her thigh now and her laughs became exaggerated breathing, no sound was coming out and Connie started to choke on his own laughs. Sasha missed her thigh when Marco turned down a street passing the corner store owned by the Wagners and accidentally hit Connie.

"Hey! The hell?!" Connie roared between his still on-going laughs. He smacked Sasha back and she whined before returning the assault.

"It was an accident! God Connie!" she giggled.

Armin had been quietly laughing in the seat next to the raging female and Marco smiled. Jean looked back quickly and smiled as well. Jean wasn't sure if he considered Armin his friend yet, but he was glad that his friend's friend was smiling again.

* * *

><p>Marco had turned down the volume on the radio just as some indie band started playing and rolled down his window. "You sure you both don't want me to just give you a ride home?"<p>

Sasha shook her head and Connie just smiled brightly.

"Nah, the bus takes us close enough that we can walk the rest of the way, I mean, for me it does," Connie looked up at Sasha who just gave an aggressive nod.

"Yep yep, It'd be too much work to have you drive me all the way to the woods anyway, thanks Marco!"

"Oh, Armin, if you see Eren before I do, tell him he's a great cook! I don't think I told him that enough!"

"Sure," he replied with a sheepish smile. "Pretty sure he'd say the same thing he said this morning."

"Take care," Marco said ending the short conversation and began to drive back down the road.

Marco had dropped off Sasha and Connie at the oldest bookstore in town which happened to be next to the bus station that would take them home. The two quickly immersed themselves in a topic unknown to those around them as they waited for the bus.

"Eren cooked that?" Jean immediately asked as soon as the window was rolled up again.

"Yeah, it was a simple breakfast but it tasted so good!"

"Eren took on cooking as a job originally when his mother was ill and he ended up making it his pass time when there was nothing to do. It distracts him a little he says," Armin had said.

Jean nodded slowly and could feel his face scrunch up in yet another wave of irritation at any mention relating to that Eren guy. He didn't push for any more information and watched the road with Marco.

The car was silent for a few minutes, with just music and the running car engine to fill the space. Armin had quickly gone back to looking out the window watching the building pass. It wasn't long until Marco stopped in front of a plain five story apartment complex. Armin quickly opened the door and crawled out.

"Thanks for inviting me to hang out, Marco," Armin said poking his head back into the car before he closed the door.

Marco was going to say 'don't mention it," but Armin had already shut the door and was opening the door to the building and could be seen rushing up the stairs as the door swung closed behind him.

* * *

><p>Jean wasn't entirely sure what he was going to do for the rest of the weekend. The biggest highlight thus far was that he found out that the major hottie of his dreams was extremely close friends with the bastard he hardly knew and hardly could stand to even think about.<p>

The teen was laying on his half-made bed with one of his old Pokemon plushies tightly clenched in his folded arms. He stared at the years old glow in the dark stickers on the ceiling and rolled his tongue uncomfortably in its little pocket in his mouth.

"Fuck him, fuck him, fuck him…" he began to chant as he remembered the maroon beanie that matched the blanket that was placed on top of him when he first fell asleep. He recalled the perfectly created expressions and the brightness of the guy's eyes and how they could probably light a fire with how much emotion was hidden behind his eyes.

Jean let go of his Charmander plush and began to pull hard at his blond locks that contrasted his undercut. "FUCK! HIM!" he roared as he rolled all over his bed before falling onto the floor that met him like a bus. "SHIT!"

"JEAN!" he could hear his mother call from downstairs. She had returned early because supposedly half her friends had made other plans to see a movie she already watched and quite aggressively hated. "YOU COME DOWN HERE THIS INSTANT!"

"OH FUCK OFF MOM!"

"WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY TO ME?!" his mother roared back only closer to his door than the last time.

"Nothing, nothing!" he quickly muttered loud enough for his mother to hear, knowing she was probably now beside his door.

He could hear her heavy footsteps recede down the hallway and only when he couldn't hear them anymore did he sigh in relief.

Jean thought about doing some homework to get his mind off of the fucker named Eren but he didn't really feel like tackling numbers and history right then. He decided it was better to scroll through his accumulating notifications on all of his social media and he pulled out his phone from his back pocket.

Only it wasn't in his pocket.

How the hell did he lose his phone when he didn't even use it the entire time he was out last night?

_Don't tell me…_ Jean began in his thoughts. _I didn't fucking leave it at…. Damn it all!_

Jean rolled over onto his back and sat up quickly, a bit too quickly as his head began to pound with lightheadedness. He got up after resting a few moments and pulled out his stupid, old laptop that was missing the battery so it always had to be plugged in. He meant to buy another battery or a new laptop altogether but he kept spending his money on different things.

He waited for the internet page to load and he opened up Facebook and looked through his friends list. Only to remember that he didn't even really meet Eren until last night so he probably didn't even have him in his friends list.

Yet again he was wrong about that as well, he was about to scroll for Armin's name to send him a message to tell Eren what had happened when he noticed an oddly spelled name that he didn't remember.

"E-R-E-N? Who the fuck spells their kid's name so fucking ghetto like that? Damn Eren, you are one fucked up kid… J-special A thing-G-E-R, damn what even…" Marco's voice resounded in Jean's head and he remembered Marco correct him earlier that day that it was 'Yay-ger' or something like that. Jean scoffed and clicked the name.

"Fuck it is him," he muttered under his breath as he scrolled Eren's profile. His icon was of him with his drums in some tacky uniform in the middle of formation near the front. His cover photo was of him, Mikasa, and Armin all in their casual clothes sitting on the edge of the castle's edge on Shinganshina's hill, otherwise known as Castle hill, with the countryside in the background and the sun setting. He realized it was near where he was hanging out with his friends last night and Jean quickly scrolled away. "When did I even add him? Why did I even add him?"

The most recent post was a shared photo from 9gag with his own added caption, it was only five minutes ago at 1:33.

Jean felt a shiver run up his spine as he clicked the message button and started typing to him. He wasn't sure how to type since everyone typed differently, was he a grammar nazi like Armin was apparently, or did he go stereotypical girl-text-talk? _Why am I worrying over my texting style? _

_ hey its jean was there a phone left at your house_

_ a nokia lumia _

Jean leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms and waited. He felt impatiently suddenly, he started to bounce his leg under his desk and he couldn't stare at his laptop screen anymore. He let his eyes wander away before he quickly redirected his eyes back to the screen as he saw movement. Eren had seen the message bus was not yet replying.

His eyebrows creased together and his nose twitched like a rabbits and he continued to wait. _Maybe he went to go check the house for a phone. _

Brown eyes began to wander around his somewhat cramped room, he really needed to clean it up like his mother kept nagging him to do, and he found his dusty drums sitting in the corner with his guitar sitting in its stand just in front of it. He had long shoved his keyboard away in his closet somewhere and replaced it with drums. It just sat there, waiting to be played. He remembered how beautiful the heavy beats of the drums last night sounded. They resonated so loudly even in the gusty winds that threatened to carry their rhythm away from them. Jean loved drums, they were the heart of everything. They kept everyone else in order with their steady beat.

There was a message accompanied with a ding and Jean grumbled a 'finally' before reading the short message that took ages to be sent.

_ come to the hospital_


End file.
